


Share Your Air

by AFey



Series: Starving [4]
Category: Grace and Frankie (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-02-01
Packaged: 2019-03-11 20:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13532268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AFey/pseuds/AFey
Summary: Frankie returns to La Jolla and discovers that Grace has moved on with her life.(Spoilers for S4)





	Share Your Air

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the song by Kate Miller-Heidke

Replaced, replaced, replaced is the mantra that swells up inside as Frankie sits at the table, playing with her fried potato pot pie. A niggling voice, most likely Joanne’s, whispers ‘ _you left, what did you expect?_ ’ And damn it, she’s right. Did she really want to return and find Grace friendless and unable to function without her? Okay, there’s a small, ego-driven part of her which anticipated that scenario. But the bigger part of her, the selfless Frankie who wants to see her best friend happy, is completely stunned by the transformation. In the space of a few months, Grace has morphed into a carb-loving lady who attends Dance Nights and doles out Top Gun high-fives with abandon.

She looks over at Sheree and tries to be objective. If she ignores the terrible dress sense and use of generic pet names, then she has to admit the lodger appears to be a nice person. Still, she’s suspicious about how much influence Sheree seems to have over Grace. Thus far, Frankie’s intuition is leaning towards powerful witch as an explanation. It’s obvious that anyone who can convince Grace Hanson to try deep fried food must be wielding more than superior culinary skills. Clearly, her amateur sleuthing skills are needed here to uncover any funny business.

Tuning into the conversation, she realises the two women are talking about more ideas for expanding Vybrant. She listens half-heartedly to their brainstorming and can’t help feeling left out again. That she only has herself to blame is not lost on her. Moving from La Jolla meant Grace took on even more responsibility for the day-to-day running of the business, while Frankie only really offered sporadic creative input. The Santa Fe office, often raised as an inside joke, is clearly not required at all now.

As she continues to watch their exchange, Frankie can feel the strong energy flowing between them and this time it finally hits home. Grace no longer needs her. Oh, she knows Grace has been looking forward to seeing her this weekend. But it’s hard to see how she’d fit back into a life here in La Jolla. Sheree is ensconced in the studio and has desecrated Frankie’s meditation room. The Frankie-sized hole she expected to find in Grace’s life has been easily filled with a pink-clad, rhinestone-loving nail artist. Her position as a fellow adventurer and best friend has been usurped and the loss leaves her bereft.

She places her cutlery down on the plate, pushes her chair away from the table and offers up a small smile. “That was a lovely meal, Sheree,” she says, looking over the other woman’s shoulder. She knows it’s not Sheree’s fault, but right now Frankie’s consumed with intense jealousy and cannot bear to make direct eye contact with her. “I think I’ll head upstairs now. It’s been a long day and I want to be refreshed for the best ever Gender Reveal Party tomorrow.”

She looks over at Grace and catches the last part of an exaggerated eye roll. As always the other woman shows no embarrassment at being caught in the act.

“Are you sure? It’s not even nine o’clock yet,” Grace says, a note of concern in her voice. Trust her to realise that a short flight from Santa Fe would not justify an early night.

“Absolutely,” she replies firmly, rising from her chair and reaching for her plate.

“Oh, leave that Frankie,” Sheree says, all brightness and light. “Grace and I can take care of it.”

Jesus Christ, this woman is starting to get on her nerves now. How can living with Little Miss Perky not be driving Grace crazy? “I’ll see you both in the morning,” she murmurs, moving slowly away from the table.

As Frankie passes by Grace, she feels a hand touch her gently on the arm. When she stops and looks down, she’s greeted by a fond look that always does something weird to her stomach.

“We’ll have pancakes in the morning. All the fixings.”

“Including jelly beans?”

“Yes,” confirms Grace, smiling up at her. “I bought them especially for you.”

Frankie smiles brightly in return, forgetting for a moment that there’s anyone else in the room.


End file.
